by Tan Copsey
Sick of The Daily Show being clever, relatively subversive, and funny, whilst also inspiring a new generation to vote against Republican candidates, the empire has struck back. Fox news, not content with producing their own comedy 24 hours a day, is launching The 1/2 Hour News Hour. Rubberneckers unite, for the prospect of a train crashing into a boat bedevilled by pirates and Sandra Bullock could not be more hideously compelling. I got whiplash so keen was I to subject myself to this glorious monstrosity. And on this evidence, it doesn’t disappoint. It’s painful beyond all belief.
So bad is it that it was turned down by the actual Fox Broadcasting network. It now shares digital frequencies with ‘real’ Fox News. Though a horrendously awkward promo slot on Hannity and Colmes, where token ‘liberal’ Allan Colmes was the only one laughing and Hannity seemed slightly suicidal, leaves you wondering how long it can last in these confines. Though it did do a nice line in dystopian futures, with a Rush Limbaugh/ Ann Coulter ticket frightening the bejesus out of me. Of course I am not the target audience, though I draw the line at being called a gay penguin. Even so I don’t hear the sound of bellies full of laughter emanating somewhere off-rightwards.
Oddly enough when searching for this on youtube, all I could find initially was a large amount of very normal Fox News set to a laugh track. Would make kinda a good first year art-school project, for those in mind of some Pomo Plagiarism. After further considered gawking, the lines between The 1/2 Hour News Hour’s ‘jokes’ and regular fox talking points blur still further. But at least Bill O’Reilly, Sean Hannity, and the puffy faced serious looking one, are great actors. They channel right-wing demagogue with flair, producing a near-fatal sense of idiotic rhetorical momentum. In comparison the chumps of The 1/2 Hour News Hour lack class. So after validating anything Jon Stewart has ever done (even including bit part ‘dramatic’ roles in godawful rom-coms), the The 1/2 Hour News Hour should slip quietly into the night, tale between its legs, at least until President Hillary Clinton inadvertently provides it with a massive new audience.
